Esaïe 44
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Isaiah 44
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| Écoute maintenant, ô Jacob, mon serviteur! O Israël, que j`ai choisi! | And now, give ear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have taken for myself: |
| Ainsi parle l`Éternel, qui t`a fait, Et qui t`a formé dès ta naissance, Celui qui est ton soutien: Ne crains rien, mon serviteur Jacob, Mon Israël, que j`ai choisi. | The Lord who made you, forming you in your mother's body, the Lord, your helper, says, Have no fear, O Jacob my servant, and you, Jeshurun, whom I have taken for myself. |
| Car je répandrai des eaux sur le sol altéré, Et des ruisseaux sur la terre desséchée; Je répandrai mon esprit sur ta race, Et ma bénédiction sur tes rejetons. | For I will send water on the land needing it, and streams on the dry earth: I will let my spirit come down on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring. |
| Ils pousseront comme au milieu de l`herbe, Comme les saules près des courants d`eau. | And they will come up like grass in a well-watered field, like water-plants by the streams. |
| Celui-ci dira: Je suis à l`Éternel; Celui-là se réclamera du nom de Jacob; Cet autre écrira de sa main: à l`Éternel! Et prononcera avec amour le nom d`Israël. | One will say, I am the Lord's; and another will give himself the name, Jacob; another will put a mark on his hand, I am the Lord's, and another will take the name of Israel for himself. |
| Ainsi parle l`Éternel, roi d`Israël et son rédempteur, L`Éternel des armées: Je suis le premier et je suis le dernier, Et hors moi il n`y a point de Dieu. | The Lord, the King of Israel, even the Lord of armies who has taken up his cause, says, I am the first and the last, and there is no God but me. |
| Qui a, comme moi, fait des prédictions (Qu`il le déclare et me le prouve!), Depuis que j`ai fondé le peuple ancien? Qu`ils annoncent l`avenir et ce qui doit arriver! | If there is one like me, let him come forward and say it, let him make it clear and put it in order before me: who has made clear in the past the things to come? let him make clear the future to me. |
| N`ayez pas peur, et ne tremblez pas; Ne te l`ai-je pas dès longtemps annoncé et déclaré? Vous êtes mes témoins: Y a-t-il un autre Dieu que moi? Il n`y a pas d`autre rocher, je n`en connais point. | Have no fear, be strong in heart; have I not made it clear to you in the past, and let you see it? and you are my witnesses. Is there any God but me, or a Rock of whom I have no knowledge? |
| Ceux qui fabriquent des idoles ne sont tous que vanité, Et leurs plus belles oeuvres ne servent à rien; Elles le témoignent elles-mêmes: Elles n`ont ni la vue, ni l`intelligence, Afin qu`ils soient dans la confusion. | Those who make a pictured image are all of them as nothing, and the things of their desire will be of no profit to them: and their servants see not, and have no knowledge; so they will be put to shame. |
| Qui est-ce qui fabrique un dieu, ou fond une idole, Pour n`en retirer aucune utilité? | Whoever makes a god, makes nothing but a metal image in which there is no profit. |
| Voici, tous ceux qui y travaillent seront confondus, Et les ouvriers ne sont que des hommes; Qu`ils se réunissent tous, qu`ils se présentent, Et tous ensemble ils seront tremblants et couverts de honte. | Truly, all those who make use of secret arts will be put to shame, and their words of power are only words of men: let them all come forward together; they will all be in fear and be put to shame. |
| Le forgeron fait une hache, Il travaille avec le charbon, Et il la façonne à coups de marteau; Il la forge d`un bras vigoureux; Mais a-t-il faim, le voilà sans force; Ne boit-il pas d`eau, le voilà épuisé. | The iron-worker is heating the metal in the fire, giving it form with his hammers, and working on it with his strong arm: then for need of food his strength gives way, and for need of water he becomes feeble. |
| Le charpentier étend le cordeau, Fait un tracé au crayon, Façonne le bois avec un couteau, Et marque ses dimensions avec le compas; Et il produit une figure d`homme, Une belle forme humaine, Pour qu`elle habite dans une maison. | The woodworker is measuring out the wood with his line, marking it out with his pencil: after smoothing it with his plane, and making circles on it with his instrument, he gives it the form and glory of a man, so that it may be placed in the house. |
| Il se coupe des cèdres, Il prend des rouvres et des chênes, Et fait un choix parmi les arbres de la forêt; Il plante des pins, Et la pluie les fait croître. | He has cedars cut down for himself, he takes an oak and lets it get strong among the trees of the wood; he has an ash-tree planted, and the rain gives it growth. |
| Ces arbres servent à l`homme pour brûler, Il en prend et il se chauffe. Il y met aussi le feu pour cuire du pain; Et il en fait également un dieu, qu`il adore, Il en fait une idole, devant laquelle il se prosterne. | Then it will be used to make a fire, so that a man may get warm; he has the oven heated with it and makes bread: he makes a god with it, to which he gives worship: he makes a pictured image out of it, and goes down on his face before it. |
| Il brûle au feu la moitié de son bois, Avec cette moitié il cuit de la viande, Il apprête un rôti, et se rassasie; Il se chauffe aussi, et dit: Ha! Ha! Je me chauffe, je vois la flamme! | With part of it he makes a fire, and on the fire he gets meat cooked and takes a full meal: he makes himself warm, and says, Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire: |
| Et avec le reste il fait un dieu, son idole, Il se prosterne devant elle, il l`adore, il l`invoque, Et s`écrie: Sauve-moi! Car tu es mon dieu! | And the rest of it he makes into a god, even his pictured image: he goes down on his face before it, giving worship to it, and making prayer to it, saying, Be my saviour; for you are my god. |
| Ils n`ont ni intelligence, ni entendement, Car on leur a fermé les yeux pour qu`ils ne voient point, Et le coeur pour qu`ils ne comprennent point. | They have no knowledge or wisdom; for he has put a veil over their eyes, so that they may not see; and on their hearts, so that they may not give attention. |
| Il ne rentre pas en lui-même, Et il n`a ni l`intelligence, ni le bon sens de dire: J`en ai brûlé une moitié au feu, J`ai cuit du pain sur les charbons, J`ai rôti de la viande et je l`ai mangée; Et avec le reste je ferais une abomination! Je me prosternerais devant un morceau de bois! | And no one takes note, no one has enough knowledge or wisdom to say, I have put part of it in the fire, and made bread on it; I have had a meal of the flesh cooked with it: and am I now to make the rest of it into a false god? am I to go down on my face before a bit of wood? |
| Il se repaît de cendres, Son coeur abusé l`égare, Et il ne sauvera point son âme, et ne dira point: N`est-ce pas du mensonge que j`ai dans ma main? | As for him whose food is the dust of a dead fire, he has been turned from the way by a twisted mind, so that he is unable to keep himself safe by saying, What I have here in my hand is false. |
| Souviens-toi de ces choses, ô Jacob! O Israël! car tu es mon serviteur; Je t`ai formé, tu es mon serviteur; Israël, je ne t`oublierai pas. | Keep these things in mind, O Jacob; and you Israel, for you are my servant: I have made you; you are my servant; O Israel, I will not let you go out of my memory. |
| J`efface tes transgressions comme un nuage, Et tes péchés comme une nuée; Reviens à moi, Car je t`ai racheté. | I have put your evil doings out of my mind like a thick cloud, and your sins like a mist: come back to me; for I have taken up your cause. |
| Cieux, réjouissez-vous! car l`Éternel a agi; Profondeurs de la terre, retentissez d`allégresse! Montagnes, éclatez en cris de joie! Vous aussi, forêts, avec tous vos arbres! Car l`Éternel a racheté Jacob, Il a manifesté sa gloire en Israël. | Make a song, O heavens, for the Lord has done it: give a loud cry, you deep parts of the earth: let your voices be loud in song, you mountains, and you woods with all your trees: for the Lord has taken up the cause of Jacob, and will let his glory be seen in Israel. |
| Ainsi parle l`Éternel, ton rédempteur, Celui qui t`a formé dès ta naissance: Moi, l`Éternel, j`ai fait toutes choses, Seul j`ai déployé les cieux, Seul j`ai étendu la terre. | The Lord, who has taken up your cause, and who gave you life in your mother's body, says, I am the Lord who makes all things; stretching out the heavens by myself, and giving the earth its limits; who was with me? |
| J`anéantis les signes des prophètes de mensonge, Et je proclame insensés les devins; Je fais reculer les sages, Et je tourne leur science en folie. | Who makes the signs of those who give word of the future come to nothing, so that those who have knowledge of secret arts go off their heads; turning the wise men back, and making their knowledge foolish: |
| Je confirme la parole de mon serviteur, Et j`accomplis ce que prédisent mes envoyés; Je dis de Jérusalem: Elle sera habitée, Et des villes de Juda: Elles seront rebâties; Et je relèverai leurs ruines. | Who makes the word of his servants certain, and gives effect to the purposes of his representatives; who says of Jerusalem, Her people will come back to her; and of the towns of Judah, I will give orders for their building, and will make her waste places fertile again: |
| Je dis à l`abîme: Dessèche-toi, Je tarirai tes fleuves. | Who says to the deep, Be dry, and I will make your rivers dry: |
| Je dis de Cyrus: Il est mon berger, Et il accomplira toute ma volonté; Il dira de Jérusalem: Qu`elle soit rebâtie! Et du temple: Qu`il soit fondé! | Who says of Cyrus, He will take care of my sheep, and will do all my pleasure: who says of Jerusalem, I will give the word for your building; and of the Temple, Your bases will be put in place. |
